India has been ranked third on the list of top 10 countries in leadership in energy and environmental design outside America, according to the latest US Green Building Council report.

Canada followed by China occupy the top two slots in the ranking of the top 10 countries for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) outside the US.

The report said the list demonstrates the global reach of the movement that is transforming the building environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet and its people.

From India ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi, built in 1977, Platinum under LEED, was notably mentioned in the report. Read more →

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Affordable rental options in Ambattur

Are you looking to rent a property in North Chennai? Do you have a limited budget? If your answer to both these questions is ‘yes’, then Ambattur could be the end of your property search. Developed as a suburb in the North, Ambattur offers several properties for lease within Rs 10,000 per month.

As per the data with Magicbricks, within a budget of Rs 7,000-10,000 per month, home seekers can get semi-furnished 2BHK apartments of sizes ranging from 800-1200 sq ft. Unfurnished, 1BHK apartments can be rented within Rs 7,000 per month. Offering properties at such reasonable values, Ambattur is sought by several middle-income home seekers.

The locality not only offers properties at an affordable price but also at prices lower than its nearby localities such as Anna Nagar and Mogappair. In Anna Nagar, a 1000 sq ft unfurnished apartment is rented for below Rs 15,000 per month. Similarly. in Mogappair, a minimum of Rs 14,000 per month is needed for an apartment of this size. “Ambattur is an economically viable option for renting properties in North Chennai,” says a resident of the locality and a user on Magicbricks. Read more →

Are you considering buying a home within the modest budget of Rs 25-40 lakh? Then, Chromepet can be considered as your choice of location. Situated in South Chennai, Chromepet is one of the areas of the city, which offers ample new developments coming up in this budget range.

If you are thinking why Chromepet, then take this. The location has made its way into the list of top 10 preferred localities for buying home by PropIndex (Jan-Mar 2014), the quarterly India Apartment Index published quarterly by Magicbricks. Local realtors attribute this rising preference for Chromepet to the enhanced connectivity to other parts of the city.

“Chromepet gained preference because of its centralised placement. As the highway has opened up, it has improved the housing demand here. IT professionals employed in Thoraipakkam and OMR have generated maximum demand,” says Venu Krishan, a local broker in the area.

As per Magicbricks’ listings, the majority of the housing units in Chromepet are 2BHK, followed by 3BHKs. The locality offers 2BHK flat at the starting price of Rs 27 lakh, whereas a 3BHK flat is available for Rs 40 lakh. Majority of the units are in ready-to-move-in category that acts as an advantage to the location.

“Since the time the water issues have been sorted out, the residential demand has started pouring in again,” says Senthil Kumar, owner, VL Dreams.

The connectivity between Chromepet and Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) has improved since the time State Highway 109 or Pallavaram-Throraipakkam Road went operational. Apart from this, the area is one of the stops on NH-45 which connects the main areas of Chennai, such as Guindy and Nungambakkam with Chromepet.

Apart from this, Chromepet is also close to Chennai international airport which is just 4km away from the place. Moreover, Chromepet also has a railway station of its own that enhances its accessibility to the important areas of the city, such as Chetpet, Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Mambalam, Guindy, Pazhavanthangal, Meenambakkam and Trisulum.

Talking about infrastructure, Chromepet boasts about numerous townships that have well-built roads and basic amenities. The area also has leading schools and colleges in close proximity that makes living convenient for the residents.

Hence, if you want to stay close to the airport and also near your office at OMR, Chromepet can be a decent location to invest in.

If the Narendra Modi government meets its ambitious housing target, by 2022, when independent India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, every Indian family should have a house of its own. To this end urban and rural India initiatives are being framed even before the new government takes charge. The numbers are mind blowing – 20 million in urban India and 45 million housing units in rural India – and creating an enabling framework for participatory action from public, private , community and individual sectors. Read more →

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M Chandrabalan of Kabisthalam in Thanjavur district is in distress. He is desperately awaiting a prospective buyer for his eight-acre farm, which was being used for cultivation of paddy, banana and sugarcane crop till a few years back. “My land is up for sale. There is no water, power or labour to raise the crop. Why keep it idle,” he said, summing up his angst and that of other farmers in the region.

Property deals are on the rise in Tamil Nadu’s rice bowl, the Thanjavur region, comprising Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam. Latest data compiled by the registration department indicated that barring Thanjavur (6.07%) and Chennai (5.75%), the state has seen a fall in property deals by 1.38% compared to last year. Chennai comprises Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts as well.

Poor monsoon, coupled with rising costs of essential commodities, resulted in huge parcels of agricultural land being put up for sale in the delta region. “It is a distress sale to meet the domestic expenses rather than a spurt in real estate activity,” said Sundara Vimalnathan, secretary, Cauvery Farmers’ Protection Association, Thanjavur. While farmers of Thirukattupall-Thiruvaiyaru belt feel it is shameful to sell what they term ‘family treasure’, the farmers of Nagapattinam could not bear to see the dry patches of their land anymore.

Officials said the distress was evident at grievance redressal meetings in the district collectorates, where farmers cited lack of water supply from Mettur reservoir for selling prime land. The worsening power crisis has also taken a toll on agriculture. “Erratic power supply has hit us badly,” said M Balasundaram, a farmer from Thiruthuraipoondi. A drive down State Highway 23, between Tiruvarur and Thiruthuraipoondi, shows huge foundation pillars marring the pastoral beauty of the region, giving enough indication of the real estate activity.

In Chennai, the southern suburbs and Chengalpet see overwhelming response from buyers. “Layouts in Madurantakam , Sriperumbudur, Uthiramerur and Thiruporur sell like hot cakes,” sources in the registration office said.

In all, 26.53 lakh properties have been registered last year, fetching 8,056 crore for the state exchequer, which is 600 crore more than last year.

With the 2014 Lok Sabha election results declared and Narendra Modi-led NDA coalition heading towards forming the government at the centre with formidable majority, the real estate industry is looking forward to stability and growth for the sector.

The new government formation has brought hope for the industry experts, who are now expecting revival of the real estate sector with economic reforms and policy revivals. They are expecting that the new government will bring in regulatory bill, industry status and necessary policy changes that have been held for long. Magicbricks brings in what the industry expects from the new government. Read more →

NO GENERATION GAP: Narendra Modi with his mother Hiraben and other family members at her residence in Gandhinagar today.

“India has won! Good days are ahead,” BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said on Friday in his first reaction to the poll trends that indicate an impending BJP victory in the Lok Sabha polls.

“India has won! Bharat ki Vijay. Ache din ane wale hai (good days are ahead),” Mr. Modi, who is all set to become prime minister, tweeted.

Mr. Modi later met his mother to seek her blessings.

In initial trends, BJP alone was leading in 275 seats — its best ever tally in Lok Sabha polls, while the NDA is set to cross the 300-mark. The earlier best by BJP was 182 seats in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls when the party formed its government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Buoyed by the party’s stellar performance, celebrations started at the party’s Delhi headquarters right from the time initial trends started trickling in and workers and leaders danced to the beats of ‘dhols’ and distributed sweets.

Mr. Modi, who is contesting from Vadodra and Varanasi was leading at both the places. While he was leading with a hefty margin of over 5.6 lakh votes in Vadodra, in Varanasi he was leading by over one lakh votes.

Source: Chennai Hindu

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Tips for NRI – How to repatriate sale proceeds of Indian property

The recent times have seen an interesting new trend in the whole NRI property debacle – NRIs from North America and Europe are coming to India to sell their purchased or inherited real estate after they obtain citizenship in these countries. This is not a trend that has been extensively examined, but it makes perfect sense. Holding on to real estate is not always feasible if one is unable to manage them.

This is especially true if the NRIs in question do not visit India frequently and are not open to renting out their properties. They prefer not to burden relatives and friends with the task of paying property tax, maintenance and society dues and see more sense in encashing the capital value of their inherited properties

Selling such real estate is usually not the biggest challenge. What can create confusion is the viability – and ways and means – of remitting the resulting funds back into the country of residence. There is, in fact, a fairly straight-forward process.

The aspects that come into play are:

Taxation

As in the case of resident Indians, NRIs who sell purchased property after three years from the date of purchase will incur long term capital gains tax of 20%. The gains are calculated as the difference between sale value and indexed cost of purchase. Indexed cost of purchase is nothing but the cost of purchase adjusted to inflation. Calculation of indexed cost of purchase is easy – many websites provide a calculator; else a chartered accountant can assist.

In case of inherited property, the date and cost of purchase for purposes of computing the period of holding as well as cost of purchase is taken to be the date and cost to the original owner. To be more precise, the amount of long term capital gains together with the cost to the previous owner (i.e. the person from whom the property is inherited) would be considered as the cost of purchase. NRIs are subject to a Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) of 20% on the long term capital gains. But there are certain instances when NRI can get a waiver of TDS. One such case would be if the NRI is planning to re-invest the capital gains of the property in another property or in tax exempt bonds. In such cases, the NRI will be exempt from tax in India, and no TDS will be deducted either.

If the NRI sells the property before three years have elapsed since the date of purchase, short term capital gains tax at his or her tax slab is incurred. Short term capital gain is calculated as the difference between the sale value and the cost of purchase (without the indexation benefit). The NRI will be subject to a TDS of 30% irrespective of his or her tax slab.

NRI selling their properties can apply to the income tax authorities for a tax exemption certificate under section 195 of the Income Tax Act. They must make this application in the same jurisdiction that their PAN belongs to and will be required to show proof of reinvestment of capital gains. If the NRI is planning to buy another house, the allotment letter or payment receipt will need to be produced; if capital gains bonds are chosen instead, an affidavit to this effect will have to be prepared. Usually, buyers withhold the last installment of payment until the NRI produces a certificate of exemption. A NRI has up to two years from the date of sale to invest in another property, or up to six months to invest in bonds.

Tax Exemptions

Section 54 – This section stipulates that if NRI sells a residential property after three years from the date of purchase and reinvest the proceeds into another residential property within two years from the date of sale, the profit generated is exempt to the extent of the cost of new property. To illustrate – if the capital gains is Rs 10 lakh and the new property costs Rs 8 lakh, the remaining Rs 2 lakh are treated as long term capital gains. The sold residential property may be either have been self-occupied property or given on rent. The new property must be held for at least three years.

NRIs cannot invest the proceeds on the sale of a property in India in a foreign property and still avail the benefit of Section 54. However, some recent hearings with the appellate authorities have held that exemption can be claimed under Section 54 even if the new house is purchased outside India. However, this is not explicitly specified clearly under the law, and it is advisable for an NRI to consult a tax expert before making any investment decisions outside India to avail of tax benefits under Section 54.

Section 54EC – This section of the Income Tax Act states that if an NRI sells a long term asset (in this case, a residential property) after three years from the date of purchase and invests the amount of capital gains in bonds of NHAI and REC within six months of the date of sale, he or she will be exempt from capital gains tax. The bonds will remain locked in for a period of three years.

Repatriation

General permission is available to NRIs and PIOs to repatriate the sale proceeds of property inherited from an Indian resident, subject to certain conditions. If those conditions are fulfilled, the NRI need not seek the RBI’s permission. However, if the NRI has inherited the property from a person residing outside India, he or she must seek specific permission from the RBI.

The conditions for repatriation of such funds are not really complicated – the amount per financial year (April-March) should not exceed USD 1 million, and should be done through authorized dealers. NRIs must provide documentary evidence with regard to their inheritance of the property, and a certificate from a chartered accountant in the specified format.

What NRIs must pay attention to is the income tax implications in their country of residence. Many countries tax their residents on their income regardless of where it originates from, while others provide partial or total exemption on capital gains arising on sale of a residential house if certain conditions are met. The most important point to ponder is the income tax liability in the country of residence on the amount of gain, and whether claiming exemption under Sections 54/54F/54EC is really worth it. The NRI may, in fact, be better off claiming only partial or no tax exemption on the capital gains in India.

Source: Firstbiz

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During the Jan-Mar 2014 quarter, rental markets across Indian cities displayed dynamism while capital markets remained subdued.

Due to the underlying low-sentiments amongst property buyers and the quarter ending just a few days before the general elections, the capital markets across the country remained stable. However, contrary to the capital markets, it was interesting to note that the rental markets were robust.

The general consensus in the country was against buying property which led people to opt for rental accommodations. This is the prime reason that held the growth of the National Property Index (NPI) during the Jan-Mar 2014 quarter with a rise of just a per cent.

More and more people were inclined towards renting out properties which reflected in the significant rise of rental values in prime localities across different cities. For instance, some cities such as Ghaziabad and Mumbai recorded a rise of rental values in almost all the localities that were tracked. Rental values rose by 5-10 per cent in several localities across different cities. This also posted an opportunity for property owners to earn some rental returns at a time when capital returns were hard to come by.

The reluctance towards buying property was also clearly visible from the capital trends across cities. Capital values have either dropped or remained largely stable across cities. Pune and Hyderabad witnessed the maximum positive growth with a rise of 3 per cent in the city index. Ghaziabad and Ahmedabad, on the other hand, recorded a negative trend.

As was visible in the previous quarters also, buyer preference continued to be inclined towards the mid-segment housing. The budget category of Rs 30-50 lakh was the most preferred. Even though there was a healthy demand of over 20 per cent for luxury properties, the segment continued to evade buyers. This resulted in an over-supply across all cities.

Thus, the latest edition of PropIndex, now in to its third year, revealed that the real estate markets are still awaiting resurgence. Now, with the general elections drawing a close across cities, positive trends may be expected post the results.

Padur, a locality situated along the Old Mahabalipuram Road in Chennai is witnessing several new residential project launches. The locality is getting increasingly popular amongst the IT professionals due to its affordable property values and easy connectivity.

Buoyed by healthy residential demand, the locality is serving as a preferred location for residential development due to availability of land parcels. A Jagdish, a city-based realtor of Ananthi Realty Services says, “There are close to 10 developers who have their projects under-construction in Padur. With almost 4,500-5,000 housing units being constructed, the location is majorly tapped by the IT professionals working in nearby locations. About 7 out of 10 homebuyers in Padur are IT professionals.”

Presently, developers such as MMRF Realty and Infrastructure, XS Real, TVH Builders, Jain Housing and Constructions, Nahar Foundations Pvt Ltd and Shri Janani Homes Pvt Ltd among others are coming up with projects here. While a few of these are expected to hand over possession within a few months, others have slated their project deliveries by 2015 and 2016.

There are projects in all sorts of budget ranges, suiting homebuyers with different affluence levels. For instance, the projects by XS Real offer small sized 2 and 3BHK apartments within Rs 36-50 lakh, the project by TVH Builders offers medium sized 2 and 3BHK units within Rs 46-60 lakh, the project by Jain Housing and Constructions offers apartments in a price bracket of Rs 45-70 lakh and the project by MMRF Realty and Infrastructure offers only villas priced between Rs 1.3-1.5 crore. With property values ranging between Rs 3,500-4,300 per sq ft, Padur offers properties in various budget categories.

A user on Magicbricks and a resident of the locality says, “Padur is resided by both middle-income and high-income homebuyers. Surrounded by IT hubs and educational institutions, Padur attracts homebuyers from all spheres and is majorly preferred for its easy connectivity to other parts of the city.”

While it is conveniently accessible from Sholinganallur, Siruseri IT Park and Kelambakkam via the OMR, it is connected to Urapakkam and Tambaram via the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road.

“Padur is gradually growing as a high-end location. Other than being well-connected via road networks and public transport, the locality is plush with ultra-modern infrastructures such as hospitals, educational institutions and entertainment centres,” says Giridaran K of VIP Housing and Properties, a city based realtor.

Chettinad Hospital, one of the major healthcare facilities in Chennai is situated in Padur. Apart from that, there are several engineering colleges, schools and restaurants which brace the livability of the area.